Pulse: BAMM to get the crowd roaring at annual music fest

Bad Ass Mountain Music Festival to get the crowd roaring

As the temperatures rise in the city, many people are heading to the mountains to seek cooler weather and enjoy New Mexico's own "mini Woodstock."

The fifth annual Bad Ass Mountain Music Festival (BAMM) is set for Friday and Saturday in Cloudcroft, bringing a variety of music to the region.

"Pretty much what we wanted was a big music festival event in town that would be good for everyone," said Justin Munoz, co-director and committee member for BAMM.

BAMM opens Friday at 4 p.m. and the music starts at 6 p.m. with Lummox. The night will continue with the Happy Gland Band, the Jackie Myers Band and Le Chat Lunatique.

(Courtesy photo)

The first to hit the stage Saturday is Jim Keaveny at 10 a.m. The day will follow with Los Santanicos, TrailerBand, Bourbon Legend, Dusty Low, NOSH, Memphis Strange, Ribo Flavin' and Decade of the Dead Arcade.

"As far as the music goes, we like to keep it eclectic," Munoz said. "Our main drive, as far as something we listen to, is something that is fun, upbeat, happy and makes people want to dance."

Munoz said they also try not to have too many repeat bands, because they want to keep the talent new every year. He said guests will hear country, jazz, blue grass, rock and everything in between.

"You'll have a guy in a cowboy hat rocking to some reggae, and it's just an eclectic mix of people," he said. "It makes it real fun."

Advertisement

The festival was envisioned five years ago by a group of Cloudcroft locals including Munoz, Brianna Ligon and Tara Johnston. The three were passionate about music and wanted to share that with people in the area.

In the beginning, the group could only ask their friends to perform and were not able to pay them much, but through the years the festival has grown tremendously. He said the event expands about 100 people each year and this year is expected to reach 900.

They also grow in the number of bands wanting to play. This year the committee received 55 applicants. Munoz said the five committee members listened to each applicant in order to decide which sounds were best for the festival.

Munoz said the event is non-profit, so a lot of the funds to make BAMM happen come from sponsors. He said this is important because they want to keep the festival price as low as possible. This year's $25 ticket also includes a T-shirt.

Shawn Hanke is a bass player for TrailerBand and said their band is looking forward to spending time in cooler temperatures and listening to some good music.

"It's a great event," he said. "We're excited to play and we hope it grows. We're glad to see someone doing something in the mountains."

TrailerBand is an outlaw country rock group out of El Paso. They often play in venues across Cloudcroft, which Hanke said makes them excited to return.

He said 90 percent of the band's music is original and when they perform, people are dancing, which is true to the rest of the festival.

Munoz said once sunset hits, people are up dancing all the way into the night until the music stops.

Although the festival's primary draw is the music, there will be other festivities, as well. The weekend will have various food and craft vendors, play areas for children and a beard contest.

Guests are also invited to bring up their camper trailers and reserve a free spot for the whole weekend, or bring tents and sleeping bags. After the weekend of fun, guests can use June 15 to pack up and head home.

A full schedule with performance times and events can be found on the festival's website.

Bethany Blundell is a freelance writer for Pulse. She can be reached at bethanyn@nmsu.edu.

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — The death of actor Leonard Nimoy last week has inspired people to post photos on social media of marked-up five-dollar Canadian banknotes that show former prime minister Wilfrid Laurier transformed to resemble Spock, Nimoy's famous "Star Trek" character. Full Story